Ctrip to Upgrade Global SOS Emergency Response Platform with UNDP

BEIJING, July 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (Nasdaq: CTRP) (“Ctrip”), Asia’s largest online travel agency and the second largest in the world, recently held a joint ceremony at the United Nations building in Beijing in a pledge to upgrade its Global SOS Emergency Response platform. The pledge to improve the platform, which provides assistance to overseas travelers in times of crisis, was made in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the China International Centre For Economic & Technical Exchanges and the China Tourism Academy, and includes the release of a new handbook for safety for global travel.

The jointly developed “Global Travel Safety Handbook” has been compiled under the guidance of professionals from 64 countries, and includes critical travel information regarding local laws, security issues, religious taboos and more. This travel guide has already been made available on Ctrip’s Global SOS Emergency Response platform, allowing travelers to become informed of the situation prior to their departure. During the ceremony the new handbook was revealed by representatives from the respective organizations smashing blocks of ice containing a copy. As part of the initiative, the authoritative UNDP guide on personal safety in times of natural disasters is also available to users on the platform.

The Global SOS Emergency Response platform has been available via the Ctrip mobile application for the past two years, and currently has a user base of over 300 million, and a rescue success rate of 97.9%. Rescue and support services have been provided to travelers in over 20 incidents, including the eruption of Mount Agung, the Hawaiian earthquake, Typhoon Jebi, Typhoon Yutu and Typhoon Mangkhut. Apart from major incidents, travelers can also seek support on the platform for more common issues encountered during international travel, including seeking medical assistance, urgent translation and recovering lost possessions.

In addition to the extra knowledge available to travelers through the Handbook for Safety in Global Travel, the new upgrade to the Global SOS Emergency Response platform will provide travelers with 24-hour online support, in a guaranteed response time of under two minutes. When major natural disasters occur, the platform will also offer a one-touch SOS service, to ensure immediate assistance can be provided to travelers.

In testimony of the positive work done by the Global Travel SOS Platform, UNDP Representative Devanand Ramiah stated, "These achievements have helped to raise traveler risk awareness, improve their effectiveness in responding to crisis, and make use of innovative technology and methods to ensure traveler safety."

China Tourism Academy President Dai Bin noted the platform’s maturity, while emphasizing the need for further participation, saying, "The SOS Platform already has corresponding system arrangements, operating standards and a co-operation network. Projects responsible for traveler safety such as this require the participation of more social institutions, not just the market."

China International Centre For Economic & Technical Exchanges Deputy Director Ren Zhangyi put forward the next goal for the platform, saying that it should aspire to not just become the go-to service for Chinese tourists aboard, but also a helping hand to foreign travelers in China.

With regard to the future of the platform, Vice President of Ctrip Group Yu Xiaojiang noted, "We will continue to build open platforms for government, institutions, industry and travelers, to ensure travel safety, and allow our users to relax on holiday in knowing we will be with them if crisis strikes."

To mark the ceremony’s occasion, an ice tower sculpture entitled the “travel safety exhibit” was erected in the United Nations Building displaying travel related items such as passports, cameras, compasses and bank cards. The exhibit contained a slice of a cake recalling the time a Ctrip travel guide gave a cake to a traveler on their birthday, after he had safely delivered them to the airport following bombings in Sri Lanka this April.

About Ctrip.com International, Ltd.

Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading travel service provider of accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management in China. It is the largest online consolidator of accommodations and transportation tickets in China in terms of transaction volume. Ctrip enables business and leisure travelers to make informed and cost-effective bookings by aggregating comprehensive travel related information and offering its services through an advanced transaction and service platform consisting of its mobile apps, Internet websites and centralized, toll-free, 24-hour customer service center. Ctrip also helps customers book vacation packages and guided tours. In addition, through its corporate travel management services, Ctrip helps corporate clients effectively manage their travel requirements. Since its inception in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of the best-known travel brands in China.